Copyright, Credits, and Write-for-Hire Creativity : Authorship and Authority in Czech Silent Screenwriting
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | ILUMINACE : ČASOPIS PRO TEORII, HISTORII A ESTETIKU FILMU |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://iluminace.cz/pdfs/ilu/2025/02/05.pdf |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.58193/ilu.1811 |
| Keywords | Father Kondelík and Bridegroom Vejvara; Ignát Herrmann; regional screenwriting; Czech silent cinema; Biografia; Julius Schmitt; Václav Wasserman; Josef Neuberg; František Horký; Work-for-Hire; copyright; film authorship |
| Description | This article examines the professional status and creative labor of screenwriters in Czech silent cinema, using the 1926 adaptation of Ignát Herrmann’s novel, Father Kondelík and Bridegroom Vejvara, as a case study. Drawing on Jonathan Gray’s and Matt Stahl’s concepts, the research analyzes how work-for-hire practices and copyright defined creative control and artistic recognition, examining authorship and authority within regional “authorial clusters.” The article reveals screenwriters’ working conditions and their innovative contributions to cinematic storytelling and style under the constraints of corporate and contractual forces. In so doing, it uncovers overlooked work patterns and professional challenges faced by silent-era screenwriters, contributing new perspectives to regional screenwriting studies on authorship and creative labor in unique industrial contexts. |
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